In stating on Friday that Republicans are "going through the inevitable growing pains of being an opposition party to becoming a governing party", House Speaker Paul Ryan was identifying a phenomenon that has challenged many new governments around the world — and tripped up quite a few. It constitutes a test for President Donald Trump, along with members of his team who have no prior public-sector experience, and the elites who lead Republican lawmakers in Congress and at the state level. Their success making the adjustment from politics to administration will have important economic, financial, institutional, political and social implications. To those of us who have been interested in political transitions around the globe, what is taking place in the US can be reminiscent of a more general phenomenon that has repeatedly played out in the developing world. In particular, it’s one that has hit hard in countries seeking to pivot away from colonial rule, especially those where freedo...
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